Do I think science is a viable career path?

Yes

But sometimes if feels like

Adaptation in a Stochastic Research Environment

Biologists are plastic!

For example

Almost all of my academic friends, have all worked in both academic and non-academic environments at some point

I know graduates who are currently:

  • Program manager
  • Database management
  • Data librarian
  • Data scientist
  • Mathematical Statistician
  • Researcher at the Smithsonian
  • IT / AWS specialist
  • Public health educator
  • Consultant
  • Environmental health professional
  • Biotechnology startup researcher

Adaptation in Stochastic Research Research Environments

  • Bet-Hedging
    • Definition: Increasing variance in fitness at the expense of lower average fitness to ensure survival across unpredictable conditions.
    • Examples: Plants producing seeds with staggered germination times.
  • Life History Adjustments
    • r-selection: High fecundity with low parental investment (e.g., many offspring).
    • K-selection: Fewer offspring with higher investment (e.g., longevity, parental care).
    • Dormancy: Delayed development (e.g., seed banks).
  • Boosting Genetic Diversity
    • Role: Buffers populations against fluctuations, ensuring some individuals thrive in any condition.
    • Mechanisms: Variation of mutation rate, sexual reproduction, dispersal / gene flow.
  • Phenotypic Plasticity
    • Definition: Non-parallel reaction norms among individuals with different genotypes in response to different environmental conditions. GxE interaction.
    • Examples: Seasonal coat color changes in animals; metabolic flexibility in plants.

But what about being replaced by AI?

But what about being replaced by AI?

But what about being replaced by AI?

More importantly, an generative AI is a based on massively complicated statistical engines designed to answer the question, “what should I say next?”

But what about being replaced by AI?

 

    If you make a complicated model of nature,

But what about being replaced by AI?

 

    If you make a complicated model of nature,
    now you have two things you don’t understand.
          -Alan Hastings

But what about being replaced by AI?

But what about being replaced by AI?

 

    AI is a tool to help people answer questions. It’s as useful as the p-value. But we are the people who ask questions.

My advice

Doing science beyond grad school involves

  1. Leveraging your network
  2. Managing resources
  3. Looking to the future

Why aren’t you doing that now?

References